Passenger aircraft that operate over long distances during the night typically include interior lighting arrangements that provide substantially reduced ambient light so that passengers can sleep comfortably, but which is still bright enough to enable those passengers who choose not to sleep to move about the cabin safely. For example, some models of passenger jets incorporate ceiling panels that incorporate light emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged so as to blink in random patterns against a gray or dark blue background, and which, in a reduced ambient light condition, gives the relaxing, soporific appearance of a starry nighttime sky, and hence, is referred to as a “Starry Sky” ceiling lighting arrangement.
A conventional Starry Sky lighting panel may include complex discrete wiring and electrical components located on a back surface thereof. The panel may use lenses, lens holders, hardwired LEDs, and wire bundles deployed on individual standoffs, and discrete power conditioning and control components that are integrated in a relatively complicated manufacturing process to produce a panel that gives the desired effect. In a typical installation, the aircraft may contain many of such panels, each of which may contain many LEDs. A typical Starry Skies ceiling panel feature requires the LEDs to be manually installed in the panel.
In addition, typically microphones and speakers are also installed in a ceiling panel of aircraft to enable communication with passengers.
The disadvantages and limitations of these solutions are that the method of producing the panel is costly and relatively heavy, requires intensive, ergonomically costly manual labor steps due to the amount of manually installed wire, takes up a relatively large volume behind the ceiling panels and is difficult to retrofit into existing aircraft. Because of the mass and volume of the wires for this system, it is typically limited to only be installed in ceilings.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need in the relevant industry for an aircraft ceiling lighting panel that provides a Starry Sky effect through a “solid state” method that does not use lenses, lens holders, wired LEDs and complex associated point-to-point wiring, reduces panel weight, volume, manual fabrication and assembly labor and cost, eliminates repetitive injuries, and which can easily be retrofitted into existing aircraft.
There is also a need in the relevant industry for an ability to seamlessly integrate microphones and/or loud-speakers into panels that avoids complex associated point-to-point wiring, reduces panel weight, volume, and manual fabrication and assembly labor and cost.